I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE

On the previous day, the Lord had fed the multitude with a few loaves and fishes. Because of that miracle, carnally minded and earth-bound men sought to have Him for the source of their bodily needs; ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread’, v. 34, was their plea. His admonishing them not to labour for the food that perishes seemed to go unnoticed. They then asked Him to show them a sign so that they might believe. As if the miracle they wit­nessed yesterday was not sufficient proof!

Their challenge, however, had unmistakable undertones of request for more bread. They were, in effect, asking if He could match the miracle of providing manna in the desert, which they attributed to Moses. But the compassionate Saviour patiently reasons with them; their greater need was that of their souls, not their bodies. He points out to them how He is the ‘true bread’, saying, ‘My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven’, v. 32. He is the true bread because He is able to satisfy the real need of the human soul. Next, He calls Himself ‘the bread of God’ who ‘cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world’, v. 33. The bread of God means that He is the bread of God’s own choosing to give life to a world dead in trespasses and sins. It may also mean that He, in His person and His work, is the bread that satisfies God’s heart. Indeed, manna, though given from heaven, could only sustain the physical life of one nation, and that generation ultimately died. But, the bread of God, the Christ of God, gives eternal life to the entire world if only they would believe on Him.

The third term the Lord uses of Himself is ‘the bread of life’, the bread that can impart eternal life to whoever comes to Him and believes on Him, v. 35. He says later, ‘I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die’, vv. 48-50.

Finally, He calls Himself ‘the living bread’, for in Him is life both temporal and eternal, John 1. 4; 1 John 5. 11. ‘If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever’, v. 51. What a glorious gospel and what a gracious Saviour! Come to Him!